Reena Virk Story: Senseless Teen Violence – Senseless
Waste 1
By Corey D. Steinberg - August 2009
Double Diamond Law
- Whistler, BC
YRABC General Counsel
On November 14, 1997, Reena Virk was
a 14-year old girl of East Indian descent, raised in a highly religious
(Jehova’s Witness) family. She lived outside Victoria, BC, in Saanich; a quiet,
little Vancouver Island community, where she attended Shoreline Secondary
School. She questioned the religious teachings of her parents, and lived a more
secular lifestyle, similar to other girls in her school. She has been described
as wanting acceptance from her peers, but instead faced “harassment and name
calling”. 2 She was ridiculed for being a larger girl,
reportedly called “pudgy” and “overweight”3 . She was humiliated for
alleged body-hair, reportedly called names such as “beast” or “the bearded
lady”.
Reena was living in a foster home,
under the care of BC’s Ministry of Children and Families, when her life was cut
short on November 14, 1997. The allegations that caused her to be taken under
the care of the Ministry were ultimately recanted, but irreparable damage to
the Virk family had already been done. As said by Reena’s father, Manjit Virk, ever
since Reena “went into the hands of outsiders, nothing worked from that day”.4
In November 1997 Kelly Ellard was a
15-year old girl, perhaps a ‘bit of a partier,’ but by no accounts a bad girl,
having had no known run-ins with the law. Ellard was more popular than Reena.
Ellard also disliked Reena, profusely.
At that time, Warren Glowatski was a
16-year old, living alone in a trailer in Saanich. He was supported by money
sent by his father who had left Saanich to marry a woman in Las Vegas. Warren
was somewhat of a ‘wannabe-gangsta’.
On what proved to be her last night
on Earth, Reena had been invited to a party by girls from her school,
ostensibly to enjoy a good time, but really as a ploy to teach her a lesson for
(possibly) being interested in a boy that other girls considered off-limits.
The party travelled to various locations. Ultimately Reena was attacked,
“swarmed”, at the south end of the Craigflower Bridge in Gorge Park by eight
teenagers - seven girls including Ellard, as well as Glowatski.
During the brutal assault, “Nicole
Cook” stubbed out a cigarette on Reena’s forehead, and someone attempted to
ignite her hair on fire. Mercifully, an onlooker persuaded the group to set
Reena free, and she was able to flee to the north end of the bridge. Ellard and
Glowatski (at Ellard’s request) followed and resumed the attack, punching and
kicking Reena in the abdomen, face and head. This second assault, and young
Reena’s short life, ended shortly thereafter when Ellard and Glowatski dragged
Reena into the Gorge Waterway, where further blows and stomps were
administered. Then, as Glowatski watched, Ellard held Reena’s head under water
until she drowned. (One witness reported, Ellard later bragged she smoked a
cigarette as she stood on Reena’s head, drowning her.)
For the following week, rumours
proliferated around Shoreline Secondary School, heard by students and faculty
alike. No one contacted Saanich Police, who were investigating Reena’s
unexplained disappearance. The police detained Ellard on November 22, 1997;
interrogating her for more than three hours, in the presence of her mother and
step-father, Susan and George Pakos. Although Ellard initially denied knowing
Reena, eventually she admitted to taking part in an assault upon her.
Reena’s murder received considerable
attention in the media, and the courts.
The six girls, apart from Ellard,
who took part (dubbed by the media the “Shoreline Six”) were convicted of
assault and sentenced in fairly short order in British Columbia Provincial
Court. Each served up to one year in jail.
Glowatski was tried as an adult and
convicted of second-degree murder on June 2, 1999. He served seven years of a
life-sentence, and has since been paroled. (He has also since made contact with
and gestures of amendment toward the Virk Family).
The prosecution of Ellard, also as
an adult, however, consumed more than a decade of litigation. This included
three trials including a conviction, various applications and voir dires,
an appeal to the British Columbia Court of Appeal overturning the conviction,
and an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada heard September 5, 2008, with
judgment released June 12, 2009 restoring the conviction. She was sentenced to
life in prison, with eligibility for parole after seven years.
The Virk family, in an attempt to
obtain further justice, also commenced a civil lawsuit in the Supreme Court of
British Columbia in 1999 naming approximately 20 parties as defendants,
including the parents of all involved teenagers, the Greater Victoria School
District, and the Province of British Columbia. They pleaded that all were
liable for the wrongful death of Reena. Ultimately, the lawsuit was
discontinued against all but three parties – the parents of Ellard and
Glowatski, and the Ministry of Children and Families. The Virks believed the
Ministry was acting as Reena’s parents at the time of the murder, and thus owed
a fiduciary duty to her.5 Manjit Virk said of Reena that at
the time she was taken by the Ministry, “Our concern was always for her safety.
We knew she would not be safe out (of the home)”.6
The lawsuit was dismissed by Madame
Justice Dorgan on March 26, 2008 for “inordinate delay.” This may be ironic as
the plaintiffs have since maintained their failure to proceed with the action
was due to awaiting the conclusion of all criminal proceedings. Thus if this is
true, Ellard has avoided civil proceedings against herself and others, by
prolonging her own criminal prosecution.
Manjit Virk has since written a book
about the death of his daughter, so that her story and that of her family can
be told to the world. A feature film is also apparently in the works.
1 All facts reported herein
are taken from court-judgments, unless otherwise specified via footnote.
2 MacKinnon, Leslie “Bullied to Death” The National Magazine:
Summary, December 2, 1997
3 “Reena Virk’s Short Life and Lonely Death,” The Globe & Mail,
November 27, 1997
4 “Father Honours Reena Virk with Book,” Times Colonist (Victoria)
September 7, 2008
5 “Judge says Virks waited too long to sue BC; dismisses civil case,” Prince
George Citizen March 26, 2008
6 “BC wants to dismiss Reena Virk lawsuit,” Times Colonist
February 21, 2008
Corey D. Steinberg is a general
litigator with Double Diamond Law in Whistler, British Columbia; called to the Bars of BC and
Ontario, and has appeared at all levels of court in both provinces. He is
co-author of the legal texts Procedural Strategies for Litigators, 2nd ed.
(LexisNexis 2007) and Discovery: Principles and Practice in Canadian Common
Law, 2nd ed. (CCH Canadian, 2009), and has contributed numerous articles to
various publications. He has also taught law and lectured in various areas, and
collaborated in 1999 to create Canada’s first law-school course and
accompanying text book on Internet law. csteinberg@doublediamondlaw.com